Stupid Like Some People
by silentring
Summary: Axel and Roxas have a bet. Sora and Riku have communication problems. And the world's just a slashy place sometimes, isn it? [RxS] and [AxelxRoxas]


Long one-shot.

Main pairing: RikuxSora

Other pairing: AxelxRoxas

AU, written for livejournal's 30 places

Place: the woods….hahahaha

Yuki: You are stupid.

Riyu: Mou….no!

Yuki: ...no, really you are.

Riyu: Psh, fine be that way... –turns to audience in loud whisper- he's annoyed because I just HAD to finish writing this before we could spend quality time together. He's possessive, but we know this already and—mph!

Yuki: -clamps a hand over Riyu's mouth and begins to drag him away. Riyu struggles like a mad little demon and suddenly Yuki stops and casts a glance over his shoulder toward the audience- ….Review.

Riyu: -stops struggling and allows himself to be dragged off to goodness knows where-

Warnings: slash? ...come on, you know that!

* * *

**_Stupid Like Some People_**

* * *

Two pairs of eyes peered down intently at a certain pair of boys. 

"Move!"

"You move!"

"I said it first!"

"Gyahh! Don't do that, you'll make me fall!"

"Shhh! I think they heard us!"

The two occupants of the conveniently located tree placed hands over each others' mouths.

"Did you hear something?" the silver-haired boy below asked the brunet standing not two feet away from him.

"I don't know," the brunet said, glancing around.

"How can you 'not know'? You either did or you didn't," this from the silver-haired one.

"If you don't want an answer then don't ask, jerk," this from the brunet.

The two, well-wound up in their own antagonistic banter, seemed to forget about the noise they might or might not have heard. Noticing this, the two up in the tree removed their hands from each others' mouths. Both inhaled deeply...but quietly too of course.

Sky blue eyes flashed dangerously.

"I'm going to have to wash my mouth for an entire month now."

"You like me that much!" the redhead flashed a mocking grin.

"Axel..."

"Oh you don't have to say it, I know," the redhead continued on, his voice light like he was daydreaming. But the blond on the branch across from him knew better. It was Axel's eyes that told the truth of course, and in them there was a certain coy know-it-all tone. Roxas shook his head.

"Just shut up. I'm going to win this bet, now come on!" the blond veritably jerked the redhead out of the tree, both miraculously landing on their feet. A head of silver and a head of brunet were both just disappearing in the not so far off distance. "Come on!" Roxas repeated and with a huff, instead of letting go of Axel's previously pristine shirt collar, held on harder and pulled the taller boy along behind him.

Axel, all the while, simply wore a half-amused grin.

It had been, if anything, his greatest achievement: becoming Roxas' indispensable, albeit self-imposing best friend...sidekick might have been a better term. Still, he'd done it, and not without thorough and full-proof planning either! Oh no, this had been a very, very well-thought-out strategy worked out by the combined powers of Axel's brain with a girl named Selphie's too. They'd been hardly old enough to color inside the lines when they'd devised their cleverer than clever plan of course, but what was age when dealing with a pair of geniuses? What, indeed.

Absently, Axel noted that he still owed that sugary brunette something. But anyway, back to his achievement.

Becoming Roxas' best friend...or something like it.

The red-haired boy had liked the blond forever...well, since kindergarten, but that was about as long of a forever that a 17 year-old could hope for.

Anyway, that's how long Axel had been harboring his crush, which had since the first moment, grown from a childish adoration to something he couldn't quite put a name to. Sure, he'd noticed he was now actually physically attracted to the boy. That was a given, but who could blame him? Slight but muscular build, smooth tanned skin, spiky dirty blond hair that begged to have hands run through it over and over, sky blue eyes...and _that_ look.

_That_ look was what had pretty much done the taller boy in.

It was like a pout but more serious, brooding even, and it was sexy as Hell, in Axel's opinion.

Physical attraction aside though, there were other things too.

For instance, Roxas, throughout their strange relationship together, defined easily enough as a 'friendship', had never been anything but kind to Axel, which Axel was keenly aware of. Sure they had their spats, usually caused by Axel, but not once had Roxas ever used even the most remote of unkind words. Even when provoked, Axel noted. Also there was something uncommonly gentle about the boy, something open and vulnerable that glistened in his irises when you were lucky enough to get direct eye-contact. The way he would wait for someone without saying anything about waiting, the way he would never back down, but hardly ever be callous.

These were those other things that drew Axel to his friend.

Not that Roxas knew. Axel sighed. There was the problem, wasn't it?

Roxas didn't seem to have even the vaguest notion that Axel did like him in that way.

As in like-like him.

As in might...might...

Okay, so even Axel couldn't quite think the word out, but it started with a 'L' and he just might...

He just might.

But currently being dragged on a mission by the object of his affections through the woods after a pair of squabbling boys, the same age as themselves for the sake of a frivolous bet, Axel had no more time to think on his emotions, or consider making them known for that matter.

"Hey!" a voice exclaimed in hushed tones as Axel ran right into Roxas.

"Sorry," the redhead said sheepishly. Roxas waved a hand blandly.

"It's fine, never mind, look they're over there. We can watch them from this tree," Roxas gestured to the one they now stood behind before leaping with surprising agility to swing himself up into the cover of the leafy branches. Axel arched a brow. He wondered sometimes if maybe the boy had some superhuman power or something. Such a jump was difficult even for him, and Axel was much taller and just as nimble. "Hurry!" a hiss came from the branches. Axel chuckled and with relative ease—though not so much ease as Roxas had managed with—swung himself up into the tree as well.

* * *

Back on the ground, not too far away : 

"Damn it why are we doing this again?" Riku muttered as he tried in vain to start a fire.

No, not to burn the forest, though the thought had shortly occurred to him.

'_Oh Kairi, we couldn't go on that trip to the woods you **forced** us into to see if maybe we could start not hating each other's guts, because...there are no woods...anymore.'_

Yes, it had occurred to him.

But then a certain someone had interrupted his grand plan of arson with a mildly cheerful: "The trees are so beautiful!"

For some reason, after the brunet, also known as Sora, his rival since before they were probably even conceived—Riku was almost positive on this—had said that single, silly sentence, Riku had lost the nerve to set the woodland and its inhabitants ablaze.

Just barely, but definitely.

Ugh.

Damn it.

_Again_.

"Can't you stop scowling for just one minute?" Riku didn't have to look up to see the frown pasted across Sora's face as sapphire eyes eyed him critically.

"Can't you just _stop_, for a minute?" Riku retorted and threw down his current little legion of firewood, stalking off to find more, but mostly to get away from the incorrigible boy that came up to about his chin in height. Oh the things he would rather be doing...

This just wasn't fun and it wasn't even purposeful. Kairi was foolish, moronic even to think that sending them out here with no one but each other could ever amount to anything but purely intensified dislike.

Foolish, Riku nodded, faintly aware that he was almost trying too hard to convince...himself of that. But that was even more ridiculous. So he ignored that faint awareness.

Behind him, a certain incorrigible boy stared after him and slowly, when Sora was certain the silver-haired by wouldn't turn back around, the frown softened into something sadder.

Sora did not mean to make the boy that upset. He'd just asked a harmless question, really, right? He kicked hollowly at the ground, sending a couple loose rocks scattering. A sigh escaped him. As much as they got to each other, Sora admitted secretly that he didn't abhor Riku's existence like so many seemed to believe from their never-ending arguments, prank-pulling on each other of course, and so on. No, he really didn't. Certainly, Riku was a difficult human being, even for the people that adored him but Sora didn't hate him at all. In fact...sometimes...when the silver-haired one wasn't running his mouth off about how great he was, or something of the like, sometimes...when he wasn't doing that, Sora thought he might actually like Riku.

And not just like. As in, he might actually have…er...Sora blushed at the mere thought...an attraction and...feelings for the older boy. It wasn't completely unwarranted. Riku was without question very handsome and his constantly flirtatious manner did not help, but he wasn't that way with Sora which led the brunet to wonder why he was still affected by it anyway, which led him to question his sanity, which led to more other emotional craziness.

Which led to a headache.

He sighed. Not that Riku would ever notice the remote possibility. Sora laughed in his mind emptily. Like that would ever happen. Ha.

They seemed destined to dislike each other from day one it seemed when, as four-year olds Riku had crushed his sand castle stating that there could only be one, and that one would be his.

Understandably, Sora had responded by shoving the older boy into the water, tackling him like a wild animal of sorts.

There had been much biting, smacking, pulling of the hair, and silly four-year old insults.

And so it seemed to be to Sora that not much had changed since they were four compared to now, even on the edge of being high school graduates.

Go figure.

But these strange feelings...this warmth that pooled in his stomach when Riku accidentally brushed arms with him or leaned around him to get something or...

Any of that...

It was just plain confusing.

But again, not like Riku would ever notice even if Sora came right up and bit him.

So Sora put such confusion into a dark corner of his mind for the time being and sighed again.

Back to their evident 'rivalry' or whatever though...it _was_ stupid, he knew. And it hadn't just been that little sand castle fiasco. There was every even stupider thing he or Riku had done to each other over the years, including stealing girls from one another in more recent years—something Sora actually never meant to do on either accounts, but had happened nonetheless.

Kairi had been one of those people.

Wrinkling his nose at that particular turn of events with his only grace being that it had ended a month ago, Sora turned to try and start the fire where Riku had failed. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flash of red and he snapped his attention to a tree not too far back. Red? But that was stupid, the trees had green leaves and brown trunks, just like every other tree. Sora stared harder.

Nothing.

Huh, weird.

Shrugging, the brunet settled down on his knees, eyeing the pile of kindling and twigs and small branches dubiously.

Oh dear.

* * *

Back up in that random other tree: 

"You are moving way too much. He noticed. Stop," Roxas whispered, placing a hand on Axel's chest to stave the movement. Not expecting contact, much less that kind of inadvertent touch, Axel quickly stilled. This earned him a surprised glance from Roxas who had never really known his best friend to listen to him so much as listen to him and then disregard whatever he'd instructed. Shaking his head, Roxas strained to see what Sora was doing down below.

He appeared to be starting a fire, much more successfully, Roxas noted with a grin, than Riku. For some reason that made him feel a little giddy...was that the right word?

Probably.

It wasn't that Roxas disliked Riku, not particularly, but the boy had such an attitude problem...the kind of attitude problem that unlike most things in the world, could actually get under the blonde's skin. So seeing the brunet achieve what the silver-haired one had not was a bit of a minor reason for a little internal victory dance on Roxas' part. All that aside however, he hadn't come all this way into the woods, with Axel trailing close behind, just to watch someone start a fire (as interesting as that _was_ with Sora's cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk's as he attempted to keep the tiny burst of flames going.)

"So, looks like I'm going to win," Roxas noted absently. A snicker gained his attention as he looked over his shoulder at Axel, perched on the same branch but leaning lazily against the main trunk as opposed to sprawled on one of the thicker branches as Roxas was.

"Yeah right, just wait. You'll see," Axel shot him a look and raised his eyebrows suggestively with a nod in the direction of the makeshift campsite below. Riku was stalking...still...only back into camp this time.

* * *

And so, back down on the ground: 

"How did you do that?" Riku demanded, hands on hips. Sora could not repress a laugh. "What?"

"Y-y-you look like my mother...or K-Kairi, standing like that!" Sora all but giggled. Flushing like mad, Riku immediately took his hands off his hips and crossed his arms. Not one to miss a beat, Sora added, "Leon now, not as funny, but definitely Leon. Do another Ri-ku!" Sora now chose this moment to do his best imitation of Riku which meant a deep scowl—translating as a deep pout—a stiff posture, head tilted to one side as if agitated. Yep, the brunet had it down pat.

The _Riku_ look.

Aquamarine eyes narrowed.

"You may stop pretending to be me now," Riku bit out slowly.

"You may stop pretending to be me now!" Sora echoed irreverently, clearly enjoying himself, all his thoughts of not disliking Riku quite as much as he'd thought flying out the window...as usual.

At the present, the sapphire eyed boy realized he had not had this much fun in ages. For some reason he had always seemed to be on the receiving end of verbal onslaughts and the usual loser in their typical one-on-one wars that had transpired over, and over, and over throughout the years.

But this time he seemed to be winning, clearly hitting nerve after nerve if the twitch in Riku's left eyebrow was any indication. And well, winning was very nice, Sora thought smugly.

"You're such a little kid!" Riku shouted, arms spread wide in aggravation.

"Such, a, little, kid!" Sora piped cheerily. Riku groaned. Sora groaned. Riku ran a hand through his hair. Sora ran a hand through his admittedly more unruly hair. Riku glared again. Sora glared/ pouted.

"How old are you?" Riku growled, irritation dripping from each word.

"How old are _you_?" Sora's expression was the insanely deceptive look of 'innocent child, you can't hurt me nyahhhhhhhh!'…which only served to further steam the silver-haired high school student.

Riku shut his eyes tight. Count Riku, count. You will not be done in by this scrap of a boy with beautiful blue eyes and absolutely edible looking skin, and entirely kissable lips, oh no you won't.

Oh _shit_.

Riku's eyes snapped open. He had not just thought that. No, no, no, no.

"Lose your brain, Ri-ku?" Sora popped up in front of him suddenly, flicking him playfully in the chest. Riku arched a brow.

"You would recognize the symptoms, I suppose," Riku attempted to gather his wits around him again.

And Sora?

Sora seemed to sense the impending end of his winning streak and without sparing even the tiniest of thoughts, did something that only confirmed Riku's earlier accusation of him being childish.

He grabbed the nearby water canteen and sprayed it all over poor Riku who sputtered and blinked rapidly, vision sharpening back up just in time to see Sora ducking off in another direction of the woods. Blowing some wet strands of silver hair out of his face, Riku's eyes burned holes in the spot where Sora had disappeared into the cover of the woods, a light laugh trickling back to simply taunt the older boy who inhaled deeply once, and exhaled.

Oh, it's on now. This was Riku's last truly coherent thought before darting off in the same direction his attacker had gone.

"Sora!" he shouted.

Laughter provoked him onward.

* * *

Back up in the same stupid tree:

"Shoot, come on we've gotta follow 'em!" Roxas went to grab Axel's collar again but the taller boy batted his hand away.

"Oh no, I don't think so. Nearly choked me to death last time, didn't even realize it you were so busy giving chase. I'll uh, jump down myself, thanks," Axel chuckled and pre-empted the blond by jumping down lightly. "Come _on_ Roxas," Axel mimicked his friend who rolled his eyes as he too jumped down.

"Don't you start now," he said, speeding after the other pair of boys.

"Don't you—"

"_Axel_!"

"Sorry." But the voice was sheepish more than apologetic.

* * *

Riku burst into what was some sort of odd woodland clearing, a few yards into the center of which sat a deep, beautiful lake.

A deep, beautiful lake with an unsuspecting Sora standing at its edge.

Riku almost rubbed his hands together in anticipation, almost, but not quite.

Just a couple more steps...

Sora began to turn around.

His eyes widened.

But it was too late!

SPLASH.

Riku's laughter far overrode Sora's indignant sputtering as he floundered in the shallows.

"Why you!" Sora managed to shout.

"Yes, me!" Riku replied, all cheery about his most recent misdeed...proud too.

"Should be careful," Sora said casually. Riku frowned. Why should he be—

A hand darted out and grabbed his ankle, pulling hard and sending Riku to a similarly watery fate. Surfacing shortly, hair a total mess at this point, completely unsalvageable Riku noted sourly as he tucked a limp strand behind his ear, Riku splashed Sora with a bored fashion.

"Original," he stated with a pointedly sarcastic look.

"Fair's fair and you're just grumpy because it worked," Sora replied with similar ease and for a moment the two just sat there, shoulder deep in the cool water—not cold, but definitely cool—staring.

Now this is...odd. Sora found himself somehow getting closer to Riku, or vice versa maybe, or maybe both...he wasn't sure but suddenly his forehead bumped Riku's chest. He looked up.

"Why do we fight?" he asked softly. Riku leaned in, almost swaying, water lapping in delicate ripples around them.

"You know," he paused...his lips were so close Sora could feel his breath brushing his own lips, hot, mesmerizing...

"Hm?" Sora felt dazed and couldn't understand why even as absently his hand went of its own accord, it seemed to frame Riku's face, drawing his thumb thoughtfully down over his jaw, causing the older boy to let his eyes flutter shut for a moment. When he opened them the color had darkened visibly.

"I don't know," he whispered and his lips came crashing down on Sora's, hungry, needy...something else too but it wasn't like he was going to think about that now. Oh no, he had more immediate preoccupations...such as the way Sora's head tilted back slightly allowing him access to the boy's flawless throat, and the amazingly arousing sound he was able to elicit from the boy by tracing his tongue over his pulse, and the way his hands were fisting in Riku's gorgeous silver hair, and how each nibble of Sora's flesh had him craving more.

Oh yes he had much more immediate preoccupations.

One of those, unfortunately was the fact that the two of them were still in the water.

And that couldn't be good. Looping his arm around Sora's waist Riku all but dragged the boy to the shoreline, pushing him onto his back, trailing kisses everywhere there was even a half inch of flesh. And where there wasn't any exposed, Riku made certain to remedy. Letting his hand whisper caresses over the boy's torso, Riku smiled into his next kiss with Sora as the boy arched into him as he let his hand wander a little lower.

"Interesting," Riku murmured as his he returned to Sora's mouth, darting his tongue in without reserve. In the meantime, Sora, while trying to stay just a bit above the heady daze Riku was dragging him into by way of burning touches and trembling whispers, the boy casually began to slide Riku's jacket off, revealing first a creamy shoulder and then all of his no less than perfect torso. For a moment, Sora pulled back to simply gaze in soft awe at how seamless everything about the debatable crazy boy who was quite nearly on top of him. Shifting his weight, Sora trailed a hand curiously over the curve of Riku's back, entranced. Riku watched, silently moved by the loving nature of the gesture.

Had they really been nothing but childish rivals all these years?

Where had this come from?

Riku was drawn out of his wondering as he felt his breath hitch.

Sora had taken advantage of the older boy's absentness and begun to nip at the flesh near Riku's collarbone, none too lightly and Riku let his eyes close, reveling in all the pleasurable sensations Sora's mouth and fingers continued to elicit.

It was the strangest thing, feeling like he was on fire...and liking it.

"Sora..."

All because of some scrap of a boy who had, until now only been another person...or had he?

If Riku looked back, he could see that there had been times he'd caught the brunet looking at him without a glare or a frown, just looking...and then the times when he himself had been caught looking, transfixed by those bluer than blue eyes.

Maybe this had been there all along.

Whatever this was.

"Nnn," Sora's voice was doing strange things to him, Riku decided as he reached an arm around Sora's waist to pull the boy closer. Reflexively, Sora pushed into the gesture, bringing a delighted hiss from the silver-haired boy on top of him and a startled gasp from himself.

What was _that_?

Sora didn't know, but he did know it felt good.

Really good.

He shifted experimentally against Riku again, hands coming to rest on his exposed shoulders. There it was again, that flash of deep pleasure, that enticing little sip of something so good, he wanted more.

"D-don't Sora," Riku managed but it was low and hoarse. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy that too, but clearly the boy didn't know what he was doing. At this rate...

"Why not?" Sora gazed up at him, blue irises threatening to drown his classmate in one of the best ways possible. Riku forced himself to look away.

"If you...if we...do you know how much I'm holding back right now?"

That caught the brunet off guard.

Holding back?

He felt his cheeks get hot in spite of himself. Here were some of the undoubtedly most intense feelings of desire and pleasure he had ever even dared to imagine as the two of them pressed hard against each other and let their lips go places otherwise unexplored, hands wandering too, hot flesh against flesh.

And Riku was holding back?

His thoughtful silence seemed to be answer enough.

"I figured," Riku said quietly and with unusual gentleness pushed himself up off of Sora, scooting a good three feet away, breathing in deeply and exhaling the same. Sora sat up slowly, crossing his legs as if he was in his kindergarten classroom, and settled for staring at the setting sun over the lake, which was quite beautiful. In it, he looked for some sense of calm or reason as he tried to figure out his own actions as much as Riku's. Well, he knew he still wanted more...

God he wanted more.

But...he was also scared.

And confused.

What is this? Sora absently pulled his knees to his chest, curling his arms around them as he rested his chin on his knees, spacing out.

Riku chanced a quick look at his...his...he didn't know what anymore, what Sora was to him.

His...anything?

He didn't know.

What had been meant to be a glance turned into a quiet stare as he took in the brunet's appearance. Clothes noticeably wrinkled, disheveled really, hair messy but it was hard to tell with it spiking all over the place as it usually did, skin still with a strange but healthy flush and glow, lips clearly bruised and a little swollen, eyes bright...

In short Riku had to duck his head down and stare at the water fiercely to get his mind away from doing any one of the things that Sora so unknowingly called for him to do.

Ravish him on the spot, that was the first and main one.

Riku ran a hand through his hair, anxious. Since when had he been so irreversibly attracted to Sora?

Since when?

Well, there was that time, at Kairi's pool party when you noticed for the first time that he'd grown, still slight of frame but slightly more muscled, chin more defined, delicate as always, eyes more vivid if possible, hair shinier...

Too bad it'd taken him getting Kairi from you for you to notice.

But then there was that other time, before that even, when you were arguing over...what was it again? Oh...that's right...it was P.E. and it'd been a one-on-one defense scrimmage in soccer. You were paired up with him, as usual, and you stared each other down. You both went for the ball, but it'd been raining that day and he slipped.

Klutz, Riku thought with an almost imperceptible smile.

And he slipped and you were already moving forward and you collided...he fell on top of you, and he didn't get off...not immediately anyway. He just sort of stared at you, as if he was trying to read you, understand you...know you...all with those impossible sapphire eyes.

Then the coach yelled and Sora quickly jumped away like a scared little cat.

But that moment...

Riku barely kept in an irritated groan. He sure was good at suppressing memories involving the brunet.

Why?

You like him.

What?

Even when you first met, when you destroyed his sandcastle, it was only because you wanted him to stop playing alone and play with you.

Even then.

That's ridi—

Riku glanced over at Sora who chose that moment to glance over at him. Their eyes locked. Sora blushed, of course.

But to Riku's shock, he felt a distinct heat spread through his own cheeks.

He looked away.

You like him.

Riku sighed and began tracing random lines in the sand with a twig near his feet as he let the voice tell him one more thing.

You always have.

* * *

"I win," Axel smirked as he and Roxas walked back through the woods, the blond noticeably sulkier. 

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, hands behind his head lazily, eyeing his best friend critically. "Well, how'd you know?" Axel snorted.

"Oh come on, are you serious?"

Roxas shot him a pointed look.

"I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't," the blond tilted his head to one side.

"They...well, at least Riku I know, has liked his friend for some time. It was inevitable. Kairi knew it too. You don't really think she would send them out here by themselves on that dare if she honestly thought they hated each others' guts do you?" At this point the pair had stopped walking, standing at the edge of the woods, the town in sight over a few distant hills. Roxas was staring thoughtfully at Axel, eyes trying to figure out who this insightful person who greatly resembled is melodramatic best friend, really was. As if reading his mind, Axel feigned a hurt look, "What? I can be observant too you know!"

And Roxas couldn't help but smile.

That was Axel, no question.

"Fine, you win," Roxas ran a hand through his hair and then instead of continuing toward town, leaned against the nearest tree, arms crossed. Axel arched a brow as he watched his friend go into what they had labeled not too long ago 'thinkative' mode. It was the one in which Roxas would get this far off look, as if he was somewhere else, and his face would relax but it wouldn't be calm, more brooding, but not dark either.

It was Roxas' look.

Axel, for his part, sighed.

"What?"

Without looking, Roxas simply said, "So, what do you want?"

"Huh?" Axel blinked.

"For winning, we never decided on a...prize?" Roxas shot him a grin. Axel shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, and it was true. He hadn't really thought of what he wanted. In truth he'd made this silly bet with Roxas just to be able to spend some alone time with him. Lately they'd been hanging out more and more with Hayner and the others, even that weird walking attitude-problem named Seifer. And Axel had been feeling...well, kind of like Roxas was leaving him behind. It was in small ways, ways the redhead knew he could well be reading too much into. But it was a fear, cold and plain.

So he'd made the stupid bet, knowing Roxas couldn't resist similar things.

And it'd been fun.

But now.

Well, part of him knew what he wanted.

_You_, came to mind, as he looked at the blond who was still scrutinizing him with unusual intensity. This brought Axel back to the present. Just what was Roxas looking at?

"What?" Axel asked at last, examining his clothes for holes and wiping a hand across his face in case there was something on it. When Roxas merely continued to stare Axel frowned. "Roxas?"

A cross between a smile, a smirk, and something a little more devious spread across Roxas' face.

"You're creeping me out now Roxas, what's that look for?" Axel asked, joking, but kind of not as the blond approached him. He was shorter than Axel physically but somehow the redhead felt in this instant as if he was being towered over. He couldn't describe it any other way. "What?"

Roxas simply reached out his hand, gracefully took Axel's right hand in his, and said, "Shut up and let me give you your prize."

Axel, who intended to do no such thing, opened his mouth to ask why the Hell he should listen to Roxas, since he was the one who...er...won.

But shut his mouth Axel did as silently Roxas brought his hand to his lips in an extremely gentlemanly kiss...gentlemanly that turned into something slightly more mischievous as Roxas opened his bright blue eyes to stare up at Axel, his lips still lightly brushing the back of his hand. Axel, for once, was speechless.

"Come on, let's go home," Roxas whispered against his hand and released it gently as he turned and started to walk back toward town. A few more minutes and Roxas turned around to see Axel still standing, still as a statue, staring at him as if he'd grown three heads and a tail. "What? You didn't like it?" Roxas joked but his eyes were serious as he came back to stand in front of Axel who shook his head.

"No, I mean, yeah, but..." Axel was having enough trouble calming the alarmingly erratic beat of his heart without having to throw talking into the deal. He shut up, again.

"But?" Roxas waited patiently.

"I don't get it," Axel sighed at last. And that was all he had. For a moment, he felt sadness and fear creep into his heart as he steeled himself to meet Roxas' unreadable gaze. Maybe he should've just played it off...laughed it off...as usual. But the tender way Roxas had taken his hand, the firm almost teasing way the blonde's lips had marked his skin...he couldn't laugh that off. Not ever. But...he had that horrible feeling again, like lately, when he felt like his friend was slipping far, far away...he had it...he hated it. Axel looked away at last. Maybe, he thought, as he stared at the ground, maybe if he just did something really random that would make the awkwardness go away, or maybe...

His train of thought was cut off as a memorable warmth slipped around his hand. Axel looked down. A familiar hand with two finger decorations of black and white and a checkered wristband had clasped his own. Now Axel dared to meet Roxas' gaze again, to meet Roxas' wordless communication as the blond slowly smiled and Axel felt fingers intertwine with his own.

When Roxas started to walk home again, this time, Axel followed.

And he was smiling too.

* * *

But back in the woods words were all that seemed to be missing from two certain other boys in check, in a number of ways. Sora was sitting silently by the proud little fire which, miraculously, had not burned down the camp, much less the woods, during his and Riku's...whatever that was. One minute his lips were practically everywhere—Sora blushed just thinking about it—and the next they're sitting apart, not even facing, in this horrible, tense quiet that just ruins everything. And then he looks over and give him a weird kind of strangled look, like he's trying to hide something and then he looks away, again, and now here's Sora, pushing the logs in the fire idly with a branch. 

Wondering: what was that?

The sparks went everywhere as he continued to play with the fire.

From a little across the camp, Riku watched him out of the corner of one aquamarine eye. He looked troubled, that much Riku could tell...hurt even. Part of Riku winced at that thought but became cold again with much the same speed. It wasn't like they liked each other. One half never made a whole, after all. Absently, Riku kicked at the earth. So what, if Sora had become imminently desirable in the past three hours, so what if on top of that, Riku not only liked him, but was currently very close to lusting after him, and so what if everything was just falling apart around his ears.

Yeah, so what.

Riku kicked the ground again dully.

"I don't think it ever did anything to hurt you," an amused voice called. Riku looked over. Sora was now roasting a marshmallow with all the practiced precision of an expert chemist, not even staring in the right direction. He must have been watching, Riku noted wryly.

"You have no idea," he replied caustically, earning a laugh from the brunet.

And the air got lighter.

Just like that.

Amazed, Riku slowly walked over to sit next to Sora, wordlessly. A stick was offered to him. He looked at it blankly but took it. Then a hand popped into his vision, palm up with a marshmallow in it. Riku cast Sora a sidelong glance, curious, questioning, uncertain. Sora took back the stick, skewered the poor little marshmallow zealously and handed it back to the still quiet Riku before going back to tending his own confectionary.

Riku shook his head and began to follow suit.

Twenty minutes later Riku decided one actually needed the practiced precision of an expert chemist to roast marshmallows just right. Sora had it down pat, of course. Riku...

"Geez, you're not really good at this are you?" Sora eyed the ninth black lump slowly melting off the stick. Riku scowled. Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Here!" Sora waved his latest perfectly golden marshmallow in front of Riku's face.

"Here what?"

"You can have this one," Sora explained as if it was obvious.

"No, it's fine, I don't need a—" Riku found his mouth full of warm, gooey, very yummy marshmallow and had to stick to chewing and swallowing rather than continuing his protest. Slightly crisp from the gold shell it had gained with Sora's childlike but keen vigilance, very sweet all of it...really quite perfect. Riku swallowed the last bit.

"You definitely needed that," was all Sora said before setting forth to roast the last marshmallow. He'd eaten all the ones Riku hadn't burned and except for the one he'd just given Riku. That amounted to about eighteen marshmallows. Riku twitched at the thought of so much sugar, but the brunet at his side seemed to be able to hold that as well as Riku could hold his liquor—which was unprecedented at this point in time—, so with a quiet sigh, Riku simply sat back and let the boy get to work.

If it made him happy, Riku was beginning to find it made him happy too.

You always were like that.

There, that pesky voice came back at the most inopportune moments.

Oh what do you know? Riku shot back mentally, both disturbed and wryly amused at the fact that he was now having debates with himself in his mind...trouble, trouble, and more trouble.

Well, how do you explain 'accidentally' packing too much in your lunch almost every day—just to say 'it'd be a waste to just toss it, you have, it, bottomless pit' to a certain blue-eyed brunet? And how, the voice continued, do you explain letting Kairi go when it became clear she was falling for Sora, rather than winning her back, which you easily could have—just to see them together because maybe it made him happy? And how—

"Just shut up!"

Sora blinked, staring over his shoulder at Riku.

"Um?"

Riku clamped a hand over his own mouth. Oh, he'd spoken out loud, hadn't he?

_Well, damn it. _

For the third time.

"Nothing," he mumbled, voice still dulled by his hand as he turned away moodily.

Sora absently withdrew his marshmallow from the fire and swallowed it whole—first things first, right?—and then clambered over to kneel in front of the sulky silver-haired boy.

"What's the matter now?" Sora all but sighed. When he only got a slight turn of the head as an answer, Sora resorted to old play by flicking some of Riku's silver bangs teasingly. "Hey, come on...I know you were just trying to protect me back...there with the...and...uh...thekissandstuff," he rushed this part, pausing then. When he still got no reply he added softly, "...so...so stop being so temperamental. We're fine." Well, as fine as we ever are, Sora mused lightly but didn't say it.

_What_? That was all that Riku could think, however. _What_?

Riku looked at Sora slowly.

"You...know I... but I wasn't...huh?"

Never in his life had Riku Miyahara sounded so very, undeniably uncool. But there it was, a mark in history to be sure. Now, what he was about to say was that he wasn't doing anything like that—protecting him? Ha!—or something like that, but as Sora's words sunk in, he realized the boy was very right.

The warning _had_ been to protect him...but he hadn't thought it would come across that way at all...somehow Sora had managed to read between the lines anyway.

Sora sat down now and shrugged good-naturedly.

"But I never felt that way before," he said quietly and laughed a little sadly.

"What about Kairi?" Stupid, Riku's inner voice shouted as he saw Sora cringe at the name. But it was his first thought. What _about_ Kairi? Hadn't those two been practically married to each other since she broke it off with Riku?

"We're not together anymore," Sora said and Riku arched a brow. How had he not known about this? Were they trying to keep it a secret?

"Why?"

"I couldn't return her feelings," Sora answered with a pensive expression. "I think she knew that, and that's probably why she broke it off."

Now Riku just flat out stared.

"But she's the one who went after you in the first place!" he exclaimed, reserve thrown to the winds as he tried to make sense of this odd and confounding news. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, but she's not stupid," Sora chuckled and added, "Not like some people." This earned him Riku's trademark scowl.

"Say what?"

"Not, like, some, people," Sora repeated, grinning.

"What's that supposed to mean? You know, I—"

Soft lips cut Riku off as Sora wound his arms around Riku's neck, hands tangling in the silk smooth hair. The kiss paused, their lips lightly brushing against each other.

"Stupid," Sora whispered and drew Riku's bottom lip in between his, suckling on it, earning a soft moan as Riku placed a hand firmly against Sora's hip, the other slipping around the boy's waist to bring him close to sitting on Riku's lap. In retaliation, Riku began to slip his hands skillfully up under Sora's cotton shirt, memorizing every slight curve of the boy's muscle...everything. Letting his hands slip around to brace Sora to him at the small of his back, Riku pulled him even closer and angled his head so he could trail hot, wet kisses down over Sora's jaw, over Sora's neck, to his collarbone...and further.

"Nnn...Ri-ku," Sora mewled and then yelped in surprise as he felt teeth slightly prick his skin at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. But it wasn't unpleasant...in fact the added sting seemed to be...extra stimulating...in a good way. If Sora had any doubt of this, when he felt a hot tongue trace the same spot, flicking at it almost insidiously, he felt his eyes roll back in his head as he admitted completely that this was a good thing.

"Very responsive," Riku seemed to note to himself as he continued to let himself be once again mesmerized by the beautiful boy on his lap, pushing back Sora's shirt to reveal more skin, more places for him to trail kisses, to experimentally massage and lick, often gaining him a mewl or two from the brunet, mewls that were fast turning into breathy moans. Fisting a hand lightly in his brown hair, Riku forced Sora to tilt his gaze up to him, increasingly turned on as those slightly hooded eyes of sapphire stared at him through a lust-ridden haze. "No more warnings," was, strangely, Riku's last warning. Sora nodded and brought his lips up next to Riku's earlobe, nibbling on it to further entice the older boy out of his cautious zone. It worked.

With a feral sound that could have been called a growl, but might have more likely been a groan, Riku let go of everything...everything except Sora of course, as he pressed his lips hard against Sora's, almost crushing the other boy to him as he all but devoured his taste. He shuddered as he felt Sora's tongue trace his lips and faintly aware that he was being vaguely submissive, Riku opened his mouth, allowing the hot little tongue to explore enthusiastically, curling around his own in a most enthralling duel of wills. Breathing heavily, they broke apart, lungs demanding air. Resting his forehead against Sora's, Riku closed his eyes.

"So, I'm stupid?" he asked, breath still uneven in the otherwise quiet woods.

"Yeah," Sora mumbled, nipping at his lips again.

"And...you..." Riku returned the kiss even as he spoke.

"Like..." Sora supplied as he nuzzled Riku's cheek affectionately, mysteriously warming the older boy's heart with remarkable sweetness.

"Me?" Riku finished, voice barely a whisper. Sora nodded and then brought himself nose-to-nose with Riku who blinked in question.

"See? Stupid," Sora laughed and the air was even lighter around them as Riku pulled at the hem of Sora's shirt suggestively.

"I'll get you for that comment, twerp," Riku chuckled, eyes alight with something alluringly dark and unexplored. Sora resisted a tremble.

"I'd like to see you try."

"For the record," Riku stated as he framed Sora's face with one hand and trailed his other hand dangerously low below the boy's waist, causing Sora to moan into the nape of Riku's neck.

"Yeah?" Sora prompted as Riku's hand on his face turned Sora to him.

"You asked for it."

And the night was all a blur from there.

But Sora didn't really mind.

He'd simply have Riku refresh his memory in the morning.

* * *

WAI…..review please and thanks. You know it just makes Riyu's day and we want to make Riyu happy right? 

Yuki: stop talking in third person, please.

Riyu: …okay. –sigh–

Anyways, thanks for getting through that if you did...

-Riyu, totally insane for some reason he hasn't figure out yet, today


End file.
